296 
ANAS BRASILIENSIS 
speculum is bounded by a narrow black bar behind, and a large white patch, consisting of the poste- 
rior half of the secondaries, which are very long. Primaries dark brown, with a green gloss on the 
outer webs. Tertials like the scapulars. Under wing-coverts black, axillars white. 
“Iris brown, bill dark crimson-red, legs and toes rich tomato red” (C. H. B. Grant, 1911). 
Wing 180-194 mm.; bill 38-40; tarsus 38. 
Adult Female : Like the male, but the brown of the forehead extends back over the whole top and 
back of head, and there is a white spot above and in front of the eye, and another at the base of the 
culmen. There are no black specks around the neck. The colors of the soft parts are entirely different 
from those of the male and show even in dried specimens. 
“Iris brown, bill dark olive-brown, legs and toes not nearly so bright as in the male” (C. H. B. 
Grant, 1911). 
Young in First Plumage: Similar to adult female (?). 
Young in Down: These look a good deal like the young of the Common Teal or of the Mallard. 
They are dark above and yellowish below. The face pattern is Mallard-like and the trans-ocular 
streak runs forward of the eye. The light-colored patches on the dorsal side are the same as in the 
Mallard and many other ducks but they appear a little more prominent, especially the rump-patches. 
DISTRIBUTION 
The Brazilian Teal is a bird of eastern South America, and like most tropical species it is essentially 
non-migratory. Only at the extremities of its range can it be spoken of as really a seasonal visitor. 
In the north the species extends west as far as the Orinoco River in Venezuela. Von Berlepsch and 
Hartert (1902) have recorded it from Quiribana de Caicara, and Cherrie (1916) states that while it is 
not common on the Orinoco, he met with it at Bolivar, Altagracia, Caicara and Quiribana de Caicara. 
He found it abundant on the marshes near Las Guacas, on the San Feliz River. 
Farther east this Teal is common in British Guiana (R. Schomburgk, 1848; von Berlepsch, 1908; 
C. B. Dawson, 1916) and it is fairly common in Dutch Guiana also (F. P. and A. P. Penard, 1908-10). 
No doubt its status is much the same in French Guiana, for on the adjacent coast of Brazil it was 
found common and breeding (Goeldi, 1894-1900). 
In Brazil it seems to be generally distributed and apparently occurs throughout, excepting perhaps 
on the uppermost reaches of the Amazon. Natterer found it as far west as the Rio Branco (von 
Pelzeln, 1868-71). Goeldi (1894-1900) says it is common in northern Brazil, and he found it also 
on Marajo Island. It has furthermore been recorded from Para, Bahia, Matto Grosso, Minas 
Geraes, Rio Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul (H. and R. von Ihering, 1907). Nicoll (1908) 
says he has seen it at Bahia in winter. Mr. R. Gordon Harris WT-ites me that about Lossance (Minas 
Geraes) it is a fairly common bird, and that it breeds there. Salvadori (1900) has reported specimens 
from Carandasinho, near Corumba (Matto Grosso). 
In Bolivia the species has been recorded from near Caiza (Chaco) by Ldnnberg (1903), and the 
British Museum possesses a specimen taken near Salinas. Evidently the bird is only to be found in 
the lower regions of eastern Bolivia. It does not ci'oss the Andes, and there is no good evidence for 
Gay’s (1847) statement that it is found in Chile. Neither James (1892) nor Quijada (1910) includes 
it in their lists of Chilian birds. 
This Teal is common in Paraguay (Azara, 1805; von Berlepsch, 1887a; Kerr, 1901; C. H. B. 
Grant, 1911) and in northern Argentina it is plentiful on the Rio Parana and northward through the 
Chaco region to Tucuman (H. Burmeister, 1861; Hartert and Venturi, 1909). Bruch (1904) has 
recorded it for Oran in Salta, and Frenzel (1891) says it is common in Cordoba. It is a fairly common 
bird in Uruguay, and has been recorded from Concepcibn, Montevideo and Cerro Largo (Barrows, 
